Welcome to our monthly Casually Crafting Blog Hop! The theme for our hop is – Nature

So who are we? We are a group of Stampin’ Up demonstrators who just love to stamp when ever we can. We particularly love the type of cards that are simple and easy to make with just a few products. So would ideally suit beginner and casual crafter’s. However occasionally we will add a wow project that would suit a more avid crafter. We will be sharing our ideas on the 3rd Friday of each month and you can hop around the group and gather loads of inspiration. So grab yourself a cup of your favourite beverage, sit back & enjoy the hop!

Today’s blog hop is all about Nature a theme that can cover so many of our beautiful stamp sets but I was inspired by this quote:

Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them.” ― John Ruskin.

When I think of nature one of the first things I think of are wild flowers. So I just had to pick the pretty Pop of Petals as my stamp set and the ideas just started to flow

Pop of Petals – Nature

This set has a selection of images which are wonderful painted or illustrated flowers so completely fit the bill. Even better they have a coordinating punch to make projects a sinch. I paired them with the So sentimental Stamp set which work for so many occasions.

Pop of Petals – Simple Nature card

These are challenging times and I wanted my first card to be something that could be made really in a hurry.

Just the Stamps, some Gray Granite Cardstock, Versamark Ink, Tuxedo Black ink and a few diamante and your are done. So this would be an ideal card for a beginner or someone new to stamping.

You could make these cards in any colour (except white!) as the Versamark creates as subtle watermark effect on the card stock. I’ve made a whole batch of these to quickly send to friends, family & my wonderful customers who might be feeling under the weather. I’ve already written one ready to send to a friend who has injured her back, working in the garden.

Pop of Petals – Casual Nature card

My next card is another simple card and makes use of the coordinating punch. It would really work for a casual crafter who has a limited stash of products as you can substitute the stamps and colours according to what you have ( or you could just grab this set right now!). I used a couple of post it notes to mask a border on the edge of a piece of Whisper white card stock. I then used a dauber to gently sponge some Coastal Cabana and create a frame. I added some flowers and foliage in Bermuda Bay, Granny Apple Green & Highland Heather, then removed the post it notes.

The punched flower was stamped on Coastal Cabana in Bermuda Bay and attached with a dimensional. The sentiment is another useful phrase in these times, where we need to reach out and connect. I finished the card with three Basic Rhinestones and a couple of butterflies in Silver Glimmer card.

Pop of Petals – Avid Nature card

For my third project I wanted to make a vintage/grungy style card. I’ve no idea why, because I don’t tend to make either styles ever!

I sponged Pumpkin Pie, Flirty Flamingo and Poppy Parade on a piece of Whisper White using a sponge brayer and then sponged Early Espresso around the edges. I then over stamped the flowers in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink. Once dry I embossed the confetti around the edges in Gold. Finally I ran the paper through the subtle Embossing folder to create more texture. Using the Stitched so Sweetly dies I cut the frames and embossed the smallest one with the sentiment using Gold embossing powder. After adding the ribbon I mounted the frames using dimensionals to create a multiple layers.

TIP: If you fancy both the So Sentimental stamp set and Stitched so sweetly dies you can save 10% when you buy them as a bundle

Pop of Petals – Avid Technique card

For my final cards I used the Floated frame technique to create a rainbow of flowers frame and a shaker card.

The frame was made using the same technique for the Avid card, but this time I was inspired by all of the rainbows that I have been seeing on the windows of my neighbours windows, when I take my daily walk. Once finished I punched each of the flowers and arranged them back in the same place. Once secured to the base card I coloured lots of pearls with coordinating blends to fill all the gaps. I think it looks so pretty and this card will be winging its way to a friend who has a birthday this month and is working hard on the front line at a local hospital.

The shaker card was made using one of my favourite die sets at the moment, the Ornate Layers. I adhered the middle of the floating frame to the acetate using Tombow glue and really adds a layer of detail without taking away from the intricate frames.

Voila!

I had great fun making these projects and I would to know which one is your favourite? So please do leave me a comment.

If you would like to know more about any of these projects please do get in contact.

You may have arrive from Hilary’s blog or started here, but do go hop onto the next blog which is the uber talented Barry. Just click on the photo and it will take you straight there.

and the rest of the blog roll

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Thanks for looking

Stamping Hugs

Sara